A Carbonaceous Chondrite Based Simulant of Phobos
In support of an ESA-funded concept study considering a sample return mission, a simulant of the Martian moon Phobos was needed. There are no samples of the Phobos regolith, therefore none of the four characteristics normally used to design a simulant are explicitly known for Phobos. Because of this...
| Published in: | Earth and Space 2016 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Conference Object |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
American Society of Civil Engineers
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://oro.open.ac.uk/56339/ https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784479971.054 |
| Summary: | In support of an ESA-funded concept study considering a sample return mission, a simulant of the Martian moon Phobos was needed. There are no samples of the Phobos regolith, therefore none of the four characteristics normally used to design a simulant are explicitly known for Phobos. Because of this, specifications for a Phobos simulant were based on spectroscopy, other remote measurements, and judgment. A composition based on the Tagish Lake meteorite was assumed. The requirement that sterility be achieved, especially given the required organic content, was unusual and problematic. The final design mixed JSC-1A, antigorite, pseudo-agglutinates and gilsonite. Sterility was achieved by radiation in a commercial facility. |
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